Module description
This module offers you an opportunity to examine a range of New Religious Movements (NRMs), popularly known as ‘cults’ or ‘radical religious groups’ that have emerged from within and outside major religious traditions in the late modernity. Many (but by no means all) of these movements have caused public anxieties and controversies, in particular when they are associated with psychologically harmful techniques (‘brainwashing’, ‘mind-control’), social isolation, and antagonism (‘radicalisation’). However, the module invites you to look at these issues from another perspective and explore why and with what social consequences individuals and groups attempt to change human condition through religious innovation and revitalisation. It looks into the beliefs, practices and histories of a range of NRMs, from the Krishna Movement, Baha’i, and Pagans to the Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Rastafarians to addresses issues such as conversion, authority, power, religiously motivated social experimentation, identity, and violence. Finally, you will have a chance to examine how competing understandings of controversial minority religions shape are shaped by societal attitudes, mass media, law and public policy.
Assessment details
One 4,000 word essay (100%)
Teaching pattern
Two-hour weekly classes over ten weeks.